NOTTINGHAM – West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson has praised the form of Marlon Samuels following the right-hander’s outstanding batting in the second Test which finished inside four days at Trent Bridge on Monday.
Samuels scored 117 in the first innings and returned to hit an unbeaten 76 in the second as West Indies slipped to a nine-wicket defeat, to go behind 0-2 in the three-Test series.
“He’s come on this tour,” Gibson told reporters. “He came on this tour perhaps with a point to prove and he’s proven his point.
“He’s played fantastically well in the middle order. He and Shiv (Chanderpaul) have had a lot of work to do and he’s done that work exceptionally well.”
Samuels has been just one of two batsmen to fire on tour so far, compiling 310 runs at an average of 103. while Chanderpaul has also been among the runs with 235 runs at an average of 78.
Samuels and captain Darren Sammy have been the only players to manage centuries in the series, both coming in the just concluded Test in a record 204-run seventh wicket stand.
Gibson said he was especially pleased for Sammy whose place in the side had been repeatedly questioned.
“He works very hard, he’s an honest cricketer and it’s always pleasing when that hard work pays off,” the coach said. “The amount of criticism he’s been getting, even from some of our own people, makes it even more special for him.
“I was delighted for him as I was for Marlon as well. But we didn’t utilize the hard work they’d done.”
Trailing on first innings at Trent Bridge by 58 runs, West Indies collapsed to 61 for six at the end of the third to virtually concede the game. It was only Samuels’ enterprise on Monday’s fourth day that helped the tourists to 165 all out and pushed the game beyond tea.
In the wake of his side’s latest performance, Gibson said there was a lot to learn from how England had applied themselves in the series.
“When you are standing in the field, this is part of your learning, watching these guys and learning from them, not just admiring the good shots they play but watch how they go about building an innings, how they leave balls in the first hour and how they start after lunch,” Gibson said.
“This is something that plagues us as well. We have a good session, we have a break and then as soon as the break ends we lose a wicket.” (CMC)
